


Just A Bad (Quantum) Dream

by that1crazaychik



Category: Ant-Man (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Mind Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 09:53:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17702126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that1crazaychik/pseuds/that1crazaychik
Summary: After the events of Ant-Man and The Wasp, Scott is haunted by dreams of the quantum realm, only this time he doesn't dream about Janet. It's someone much bigger, much meaner and who's looking for revenge. (pre "post-credit" scene).





	1. Chapter 1

A bright, multicoloured flash shot across Scott's vision. Then another, and another. He could feel himself drifting aimlessly, his whole mind and body feeling numb. He remembered this place... but from where? Shapeless objects hung in the space surrounding him, seeming to grow bigger and bigger every second. Or was he shrinking? The memories came rushing back to him like a flash flood. Cassie. Yellow Jacket. Hank's warning. He was shrinking indefinitely into the quantum realm and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Scott began to panic, his heart racing in his ever-shrinking chest. As the bright colours flashed around him he searched for something, anything that could help him. The lights kept flashing until a dark figure appeared threateningly in front of Scott and he awoke.

Scott shot upright in bed, gasping for air. It took him a few seconds to realize that he wasn't actually stuck in the quantum realm and that he was safe in his own room. He glanced over at the figure lying on the other side of the bed and was glad to see she was still sleeping. The last thing Scott needed was for Hope to know he had nightmares. He watched her for a few seconds, her peaceful, even breaths easing his panic. He gave her a light kiss on the forehead and quietly crawled out of bed.

Scott made his way to the kitchen to make some coffee, eager to get his hands moving and his mind off the dream. Ever since Hank and Hope opened the quantum realm he'd been having the same, reoccurring dream, even after they'd extracted Janet from the realm. In all the dreams, however, he'd never encountered the dark figure before. It was definitely not Janet as it was too big and threatening. The figure did seem familiar but Scott just couldn't place his finger on it. He was halfway through toasting bagels and making coffee when a voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What're you doing up so early?"

Scott turned quickly to see Hope leaning up against the bedroom doorframe, wearing one of Scott's "X-Con Security" t-shirts. He smiled.

"Early? What are you talking about? I always get up at..." He checked his watch, "5:00 am? Holy shit! What're  _you_  doing up so early?"

Hope chuckled as she took a seat at the kitchen island.

"Well, I can hardly sleep with you banging around in here, can I?" Hope motioned to the open cabinets and drawers that Scott had been mindlessly ruffling through in his quest to make breakfast.

"Well, how was I supposed to make you this delicious cup of coffee without making any noise?" Scott attempted to redeem himself by placing the steaming cup in front of her.

"I hate the brand of coffee you buy, it's disgusting." She retorted.

"This cup of coffee, then" Scott corrected himself.

"I'm not even sure it's coffee..." she said scrunching her nose. Scott thought for a second.

"This... cup."

Hope laughed, as a huge grin spread across Scott's face. She took a sip of her coffee and smiled.

"It's great. Thanks."

Scott leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. He then turned to grab his own cup of coffee.

As he turned, a bright coloured light flashed across his vision again.

"You never did tell me why you were up so early." He heard Hope say behind him.

A second light flashed before his eyes.

 _Not now..._  he thought.

Another coloured flash, but this one was much more intense.

"Argh!" Scott exclaimed, throwing his hand to his temple.

"Scott?" Hope asked, concerned.

Flash! Another wave of pain, this time even worse than the last. Scott let his coffee mug crash to the floor, doubling over and clutching his head.

"Aaargh!" He cried out, unable to hold the pain back.

"Scott!" Hope rushed to his side as he collapsed to his knees, losing his vision completely. He was back in the quantum realm floating aimlessly. Mind and body numbed.

"Scott? Scott, what's wrong?" Hope grabbed the man by his shoulders, trying to keep him steady as he shook with pain.

"Scott, talk to me!" Hope begged. Suddenly he stopped shaking. He let his hands slowly drop from his head and he looked at Hope, a confused expression on his face. Hope sucked in a nervous breath.

"Scott?" She said quietly trying not to keep her voice from cracking. Scott gave her a look as if to say  _"Who?"_  He then began to look around the kitchen, and the confusion cleared from his eyes. He shook his head and looked back at Hope.

"W-what happened?" He asked, "Why are we on the floor?"

Hope took a deep breath trying to calm her racing heart.

"I don't know Scott, you tell me." She said helping him to his feet. "One moment you're fine the next your clutching your head in pain... what was that?"

Scott sighed.

"I didn't want to tell you cause I didn't want you to worry..."

"This has happened before?" Hope exclaimed a little too protectively.

"No, no... well not exactly..." Scott started. "I... I've been having these dreams ever since you and Hank opened the quantum realm, it's no big deal-"

"You mean like the dream you had of my mom?" Hope asked.

"Yeah... sort of."

"But that was only due to your quantum entanglement! Why would you be still having dreams if-"

"Hey! Hope, it's fine. I'm okay." Scott grabbed her by the shoulders reassuringly. "Just a bad dream. It's nothing I can't handle, all right?"

Hope looked at him sadly, not sure what to say. Scott quickly switched his gaze to his watch.

"I should go have a shower and get ready to go. I've got to pick up Cassie from Maggie's this morning."

Hope put a hand on his chest freezing him in place.

"You are not going anywhere right now, except straight back to bed!" She commanded. "Don't worry about Cassie, I'll go pick her up."

Scott looked at Hope like he wanted to protest but just didn't have the energy to.

"Fine..." he surrendered. Hope smiled, kissing him on the cheek.

"But you really should still have that shower..." She chimed in, crinkling her nose. He laughed, pulling her into a big, stinky hug.


	2. Chapter 2

Hope left the house with Scott snoring softly in the bedroom. From how quickly he fell asleep once his head hit the pillow, Hope guessed he got very little sleep the night before and she felt guilty for not noticing the bags under his eyes earlier. She watched him from the bedroom door, sleeping soundly with his mouth slightly propped open. She couldn't help but smile at the sight. No matter how many times Scott Lang frustrated or infuriated her, he always managed to somehow make her smile and Hope didn't know if she liked that or hated it.

After closing the bedroom door gently behind her, Hope grabbed the keys to her SUV and snuck out the front door. Once outside, she unclipped the miniature car seat keychain from her key ring and set it in the back-seat tossing a growth disc at it as she shut the door. She only started carrying the keychain about a week ago, just in case she'd ever need to babysit Cassie. She loved the kid, especially when she started to show interest in ants. Hope and Janet taught her all about the fascinating insects and even helped her start her own ant farm.

As Hope drove along, she couldn't help but let her thoughts drift on the little "Peanut", and how lucky Cassie was to have a father like Scott. As much as Hope loved Hank, he had always been an absent father, especially when she was younger. Hope admired how hard Scott worked to be a part of his daughter's life, even if it led him to do stupid things like going sub-atomic and shrinking indefinitely into the quantum realm. And you know… other stuff.

As Hope pulled into the driveway of Maggie's house, she saw the front door burst open and Cassie run out, her _Frozen_  themed backpack slung over her shoulders. Hope got out of the van and met the little girl half-way.

"Hope!" Cassie exclaimed, rushing in for a hug. She grabbed Hope's hips because that was all she could reach and squeezed tight.

"Hi Cassie, how's your ant farm doing?" Hope asked, ruffling the girl's hair affectionately.

"Good! Where's my dad?" She asked, not even skipping a beat. Hope thought for a second.

"You're dad's not feeling too good at the moment… he's at home resting." She answered cautiously.

"Oh no, again?" A voice came from the doorway. Hope looked up to see Maggie holding Cassie's ant farm and sleeping bag with a concerned look on her face. "It's not that flu again is it?"

Hope bit her lip.

"Yeah…" she lied. "But I think he's finally coming out of it. You're daddy's tough, just like you!" she poked Cassie playfully in the stomach which got a giggle.

"Well thank you, Hope," Maggie said, handing Hope the ant farm, "for covering for him. I hope Scott gets better soon."

Hope smiled sadly.

"Me too." She replied.

Once Hope got Cassie and her ant farm safely strapped into the back seat, she backed carefully out of the driveway and headed back to Scott's place. Before she could even reach the end of the street, however, Cassie made her almost stop the car completely.

"Daddy's not really sick, is he?" She asked innocently. Hope looked at her through the rearview mirror.

"What makes you say that?" She asked. Cassie thought for a moment, picking at her seat belt.

"Well… he was faking it when the Popo came, and he isn't puking at night he's just been having bad dreams…"

"What?" Hope asked, a little too quickly.

"Bad dreams," Cassie repeated. "I always hear daddy yelling at night because he doesn't have a dream catcher to catch all his bad dreams…"

"How long has Daddy been having dreams?" Hope asked cautiously.

"Umm…" Cassie thought, "Since after he got out of house jail." She replied.

 _Dammit Scott_ , Hope thought not quite sure why she was angry at him. An idea popped into her head.

"Hey Cassie, I think we're going to make a stop at Grandpa Hank and Grandma Janet's. Is that all right?" Hope said, looking at the young girl through the rear view.

"Yay, Ants!" was her reply. Hope took it as a yes.

* * *

"And these ones are the crazy ants. Bleeeeurgh!" Janet crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, feigning crazy to get a laugh from Cassie. It worked.

Hope smiled from across the room watching her mom and Cassie peer through the glass ant farms at the insects trekking the sand tunnels inside.

"She really is a cutie," Hope said to her father who was busy upgrading her Wasp suit.

"Mhhmm," Hank replied, not looking up from his work. "Hard to believe Scott's her father."

"Dad!" Hope exclaimed, smiling slightly. Her smile quickly faded, however. "Speaking of Scott…"

"Oh god…" Hank muttered.

"Dad seriously," Hope said, "I'm worried about him. He's been having more dreams about the quantum realm, and they're getting worse."

"What?" Hank finally looked up from his work. "No, that's impossible. The dream only happened because of his quantum entangle-"

"Entanglement with mom, I know…" Hope sighed, "But he had one again this morning… while he was awake. And it seemed painful. One minute he was fine the next… he didn't even seem like Scott."

Hank stopped working.

"I just…" Hope struggled to find the right words, "Do you think… that there could be someone else down there using the 'antenna' mom planted in Scott's head?"

Hank stared at her for a moment.

"Sorry…" Hope looked down, tears brimming in her eyes as she remembered how distant and confused Scott had looked this morning, "Maybe I'm just paranoid. I'm just really worried about him..."

Hank put a gentle hand on his daughter's shoulder, causing her to look up.

"I'll look into it honey, I promise," Hank said. "I'll ask Janet about it; see if she can remember seeing anyone else down there."

Hope nodded slightly, the ache in her heart still not completely eased.

"He's going to be fine Hope," Hank assured her. "Trust me… that man has 'Luck' for a middle name."

Hope smiled.

"Thanks, Dad."

* * *

They got back to Scott's place at around 11:00. Hope pushed the front door open gently with her foot, balancing back-pack, sleeping bag and ant farm in her arms.

"Remember Sweetie, we have to be quiet in case Daddy's sleeping," Hope whispered to the little girl, who nodded in return. As soon as she crossed the threshold, however, she gave a huge gasp.

"Daddy!" She exclaimed, rushing to meet Scott, who was flipping pancakes in the kitchen.

"Peanut!" Scott immediately stopped what he was doing and crouched down to give his daughter a hug.

"I missed you so much." he said, kissing her on the head, "How's your ant farm doing?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Great!" Cassie replied. "I've named twenty-eight of them already!"

"Wow, twenty-eight out of a hundred and fifty?" Scott asked in mock amazement. "That's almost a quarter of them."

Hope set the ant farm down on the island, placing the rest of her stuff by the stairs. Cassie crawled onto a chair and peered into her ant farm.

"There's Anty, Anty Number Two, Antony Jr., Sandy, Cuddles…" She continued to name her ants, while hope joined Scott by the stove.

"I thought I told you to get some rest." She said quietly, wrapping her arm around his and putting her head on his shoulder.

"I did." He replied, flipping a pancake, "And then I woke up and thought 'Gee, Hope and Cassie might want some pancakes for lunch' and-"

"Scott." Hope said, pulling away, "I'm serious. What happened this morning was not good."

"I know but...," Scott stole a quick look at his daughter, then turned his attention back to Hope. "I'm not going to let some stupid dream get in the way of my limited time with my daughter."

Scott dropped his gaze back to his pancakes.

"I'm fine!" he stated, "Can you please let it go?"

Taken aback, Hope released her gentle hold on Scott's arm.

"Fine…" she said, locking her jaw. She set off for the front door.

"Hope? Hope!" Scott called after her, "I didn't mean… I just-"

"I'm going for a walk!" Hope replied, "I'll be back in a bit."


	3. Chapter 3

Hope liked walking. It helped her clear her head. Whenever she would get angry with her dad or frustrated at work she'd take a quick walk, or do something physical and come back and attack the problem from a different angle. It worked every time… except for this time. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't pry her mind off the subject of Scott, his dreams and his stupid need to put everyone else before himself. He did it with Vista Corp, their fight against Darren Cross, for Captain America and most recently during the trio's mission to extract Janet from the quantum realm. In every situation, Scott jumped to help, and never once thought about the consequences it would have on his own life. Hope just wished he could just be selfish for once.

Hope had nearly completed her third lap around the block when she finally pulled out her phone. She didn't care what Scott said she was most definitely not "letting it go". She punched her mother's phone number into her phone and brought it to her ear. It rang a few times and then picked up.

"Hello?" a male voice answered from the other side of the line.

"Hey Dad, where's mom?" Hope asked continuing her walk.

"She's working on our dream problem." Hank replied casually from the other end of the phone, "She's trying out a meditation technique to see if she can remember anything more from her time in the quantum realm. How's Scott?"

Hope took a deep breath, trying to answer as calmly and nicely as she could.

"He's being a self-sacrificing idiot." She replied swiftly. Better luck next time. She could hear her father chuckle on the other end of the phone.

"Sounds like Scott…" Hank said, "Well keep an eye on him and I'll let you know if we come up with anything new."

Hope sighed.

"Yeah… okay."

"Hang in there honey," her father said. "We'll figure this one out."

When Hope got back into the house, dirty dishes were already piled up in the sink and Scott and Cassie could be heard playing upstairs. Scott left a plate for Hope on the island wrapped in what looked like what was supposed to be a tinfoil swan. She rolled her eyes, unwrapping her plate to reveal her ant-shaped pancakes. How was she supposed to stay mad at a man who made tinfoil swans and pancake art?

She ate her pancakes, trying hard not to enjoy them, cleaned the dishes and then made her way upstairs to play with Cassie and Scott.

* * *

Scott made it through the rest of the day without any issues or random painful visions, which reduced Hope's anxiety only slightly. It was now almost time for Cassie's bedtime so they decided to pop in a movie knowing full well she'd be out within fifteen minutes. Surprisingly she lasted thirty minutes until her eyes couldn't stay open anymore. Scott lasted twenty.

Having seen the movie more than five times since she began hanging out with Scott and Cassie, Hope turned the TV off and carefully lifted Cassie from her father's lap, not wanting to wake either of them. She took her upstairs and tucked her into her bed, making sure her favourite ugly bunny was snuggled in beside her. After placing a kiss on Cassie's forehead Hope turned the night light on and slowly closed the bedroom door behind her.

When she got back downstairs she could hear a quiet murmur coming from the living room. When she entered Scott was still sound asleep on the couch only his forehead was creased from fear or pain. Obviously, he was having another dream. Hope rushed to his side.

"Scott? Scott, wake up!" She shook his shoulder gently and he jumped awake. Hope felt a pang in her heart when she looked into his eyes. They were so distant again like Scott wasn't actually there.

"Scott?" She pressed gently, "Are you okay?"

Scott stared at her directly and his eyes flared back to life. "Hope… I-I'm fine, it was just uh…"

"Just a bad dream?" Hope cut in. "Yeah, so I heard." She let her gaze drop. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment, until Scott cleared his throat.

"What did I miss?" he asked. Hope rolled her eyes.

"Not much…" Hope said, getting up and walking towards the kitchen. "We didn't even make it half-way through the movie. Cassie passed out about ten minutes after you."

Scott followed Hope into the kitchen, planting himself on the opposite side of the island as she checked her phone which had been charging during the movie.

"Where is Cassie anyways?" Scott asked.

"I already brought her to bed… and missed a call from my dad…" Hope answered not looking up from her phone, according to which she had one new voicemail. "Sorry I have to take this."

Scott nodded as if to say " _go for it"._

Hope turned back towards the living room and pressed the phone to her ear and froze when she heard the message.

"Hope you need to get Cassie out of the house now!" Her father's panicked voice crackled through the phone. "It's Cross, Darren Cross. That's who your mother saw in the quantum realm. That's who's been trying to use Scott as an antenna! Hope, he could take over Scott's motor functions at any time, just like your mother did. Call me back as soon as you can. And get Cassie out!"

Hope quickly dropped her phone from her ear and turned towards Scott.

"Something up?" he asked, a slight look of concern on his face. Hope couldn't tell if it was genuine or staged. She quickly put on her "poker face".

"Oh no…" she began, "He just couldn't figure out the TV again. He may be a genius scientist, but that man just can't figure out Netflix."

Scott gave his signature chuckle. Or was it?

"Well… I'm going to go say a quick goodnight to Cassie…" Scott turned towards the stairs.

"Wait!" Hope exclaimed, trying to come up with a plan. Scott stopped in his tracks and looked at her strangely. Hope quickly recovered.

"I totally forgot to mention…" She said innocently, "When I picked Cassie up this morning Maggie said something about her Softball game being rescheduled. Do you know anything about that?"

Scott stopped to think for a second.

"I think Maggie was supposed to send me the game schedule, I'll check before bed." He answered, nonchalantly, turning back towards the stairs. Hope set her jaw.

"Wrong answer, Cross." She said, "Cassie plays soccer."

Scott dropped his head for a second, and then his shoulders began to shake with laughter. Hope stood her ground as the man she loved turned to her with a maniacal grin on his face.

"You're good Hope…" He said pointing a finger in her direction, "We could've made a good team."

"Darren… leave Scott Lang alone." Hope commanded, her voice trembling with a combination of fear and anger.

"Oh, I'm not going to hurt him," Cross said with feigned emotion. "No, no, no… I'm just going to make him  _kill_  his  _own_  daughter with his bare hands. And then I'll give him right back… just in time for him to see what he's done."


	4. Chapter 4

Hope couldn't move. As much as she willed her body into action it wouldn't listen to her. And as she looked into Scott's eyes she felt as though there was an iron fist clamped around her heart. She had never seen such brutality and anger in those green eyes and it broke her heart. Finally, she found the will to move. She shook her head slightly, holding back a wave of despair.

"You're so sick Darren, and really I wish I could've helped you sooner." She said. "But I'm  _not_  letting you touch that little girl."

With that, Hope lunged to the kitchen island and grabbed a knife from the knife block. Unfortunately, Cross anticipated her move and Scott intercepted her. He grabbed her arm and slammed it against the island, forcing her to drop the knife. Shouting in pain, she quickly retaliated, punching him in the face and pulling her arm free of his hold. She turned swiftly and gave him a powerful kick to the stomach, causing him to stumble back. Unfortunately, he had already grabbed the kitchen knife from the table and quickly recovered from the stomach blow, blocking Hope's only path to Cassie.

"Now Hope…" Cross said, using Scott's voice. "I wasn't planning on killing you too, but you give me no choice." a vengeful smirk spread across Scott's face and barred the knife towards Hope. Before he could advance, however, a small voice came from the stairs.

"Hope? Daddy?" Cassie stood at the bottom of the stairs in her pyjamas, clutching her ugly bunny toy. "What's going on?"

Hope froze with fear as Scott plastered his signature smile onto his face and turned towards Cassie, hiding the knife behind his back.

"Hey, Peanut!" he said cheerfully, "I was just about to come up and say goodnight… Why don't you come and give Daddy a hug?" Cassie paused for a second, not sure what to do. Somehow she knew something was wrong…

"Don't listen to him Cassie, I know you're confused right now but that is not your Dad, okay?" Hope explained as calmly as she could. "Go to your room now and lock-"

"Don't listen to her Peanut," Scott said, creeping closer to Cassie. "It's me."

Cassie looked from Hope to Scott, obviously trying to decide who to believe, but Hope couldn't take it any longer. She rushed at Scott who immediately turned and thrust the knife towards Hope. She quickly dodged and grabbed the arm holding the knife. Cassie screamed and hugged her bunny to her chest. Hope stared directly into her fear filled eyes.

"Run Cassie!" she cried. Cassie obeyed, racing past the pair and straight for Scott's bedroom. Scott yelled after her in anger. Catching Hope off guard, he pulled his arm away and shoved his elbow into her stomach, causing her to fall back and release his arm. Before he could run after his daughter, Hope gave him a swift kick to the shin, causing him to fall to the floor. Hope quickly pinned him, wrestled the knife from his grasp and instinctively held it to his throat. Scott immediately stopped fighting as Hope realized what she was doing. Scott's angry grimace melted into a snide grin.

"Do it, Hope." He said softly, "I dare you."

Hope's heart was beating out of her chest, and she felt like she was going to hyperventilate.

"Scott? Scott, please come back to me." She pleaded breathlessly, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Kill him, Hope." Scott taunted, "Kill him or he'll kill his daughter."

"You have to fight this Scott, come on."

"Either way I win."

"Scott please…"

"DO IT!"

Hope couldn't take it anymore. She threw the knife to the side and pulled Scott into a kiss. And for a second everything else in the world just disappeared. She kissed him the way she had always wanted to but was too afraid to. She kissed him like she absolutely loved him because the truth was she  _really_  fucking did.

When Hope pulled away she didn't know what to expect. She just wanted her Scott back  _so_  desperately. When she looked into his eyes they seemed foggy at first but they soon cleared, staring up at her slightly confused.

"Hope?" He asked, his voice hoarse. "W-what happened?"

Hope couldn't help but let out a soft laugh of relief. He noticed the tears on her cheeks and moved to wipe them away only to realize she had him pinned firmly to the ground.

"Hope? What's going on? What happened?" He looked around the kitchen. Panic began to creep into his voice when he saw the stray kitchen knife. Hope released him and took a deep breath.

"Darren Cross… he's in the quantum realm. He was using my mom's 'antenna' to control you." She explained as calmly as she could. "He tried to get Cassie."

"Wait… What?" Scott quickly sat up. Any bit of confusion in his voice was replaced with fear at the mention of his daughter in danger.

"Cassie? Cassie!" He called, struggling to get to his feet. Hope held him down.

"She's fine Scott." Hope calmed him, "We're all fine…" She paused for a second staring into his eyes, then dove into his arms, hugging him with all her might.

"I'm just so happy your back." She said, failing to hold her tears back. He squeezed her tightly in return.

They were interrupted once more by a small voice.

"Daddy? Is that you now?"

Cassie had crept into the kitchen, still clutching her bunny with all her might.

"It is, Sweetheart." Hope replied, softly turning towards Cassie and stretching a welcoming arm towards her, "Everything's all right now."

Seeing the fear in his little girl's eyes broke not only Scott's heart but his spirit as well. Cassie rushed into her father's arms and he sobbed into her hair.

"I'm sorry Peanut…" He managed between sobs. Hope rubbed his back trying to calm him as he clung to his daughter. "I'm so, so sorry."

"It's alright Daddy," Cassie said innocently, "It was just a bad dream…"


	5. Chapter 5

Scott didn't sleep that night. Neither did Hope. They were both still on edge and time seemed to crawl through the night.

Hank and Janet came crashing through the front door of Scott's house not long after Hope had brought him back. They were beyond relieved to see that everyone was safe. Wanting to solve the problem immediately, and being the scientist couple they were, they packed up Cassie's overnight bag and brought the trio back to the house where they could keep a close eye on Scott. They got Cassie tucked into the spare bedroom in and she was fast asleep in no time. Scott insisted they lock him up in the old safe or at least cuff him to a radiator, but Hope and Janet objected. Hank downright refused, surprisingly.

They spent the rest of the night working, building and "sciencing" (as Scott called it) until they found a solution to the problem. It took them an hour and a half to make the plans for the "cerebral quantum inhibitor", and another half hour to explain it to Scott. By 2:30 am, the Pym/Van-Dyne family was nearly completed with the contraption that would stop anyone in the quantum realm from taking over Scott's body again.

Hope was having a hard time keeping her eyes focused on her work, exhaustion slowly overtaking her body. She looked up from the work table for a brief moment and attempted to massage a headache from her temples. From her peripherals, she could see Scott slowly nodding off in the corner.

He sat on a stool with his right hand cuffed to the old radiator, having locked it there himself despite the family's protests. He had given Hope the key and it felt like a brick in her pocket, guiltily weighing her down; especially now with how harmless and drained he looked. With every passing second his head dipped lower and lower. She watched as his eyelids blinked closed slowly three or four times until he'd shake himself awake and begin the whole process again. An idea sparked in her head. No one noticed when she left the room.

When she returned her parents were still hard at work on the inhibitor, rambling equations off to each other. Scott had resorted to holding his eyelids open with his one free hand.

"Here..." Hope handed Scott a steaming coffee mug. Her approach startled him slightly but he quickly recovered and accepted the mug.

"Thank you." He said with a grateful smile, carefully grabbing the mug with his left hand. He quickly set it on the table next to him when his hand began to shake under the weight.

"Guess I shoulda cuffed my left hand, huh?" He pondered aloud, "Would've been a lot more useful..."

Hope smiled as she pulled up a stool next to him, taking a sip of her coffee.

He leant down to the table until his mouth was at the lip of the mug and took a noisy sip.

"Damn." He said, "you're right... the brand of coffee I buy really is shitty!"

Hope chuckled softly at his goofy smile. She stopped quickly as she watched Scott attempt to drink his coffee one-handed.

"I can't do this..." she pulled the handcuff key out of her pocket and moved towards Scott's hand but he jumped up and blocked her approach.

"No!" He said, panicked. Hope stopped, a little shocked. Scott took a deep breath then continued more quietly. "No, please... I... don't trust myself right now Hope, please."

His eyes killed her. They were filled with fear and were practically begging her to stop, which shattered her heart to pieces. Scott could tell. He averted his gaze quickly once he noticed that he had briefly drawn the attention of the two Scientists working in the background. He continued once they returned to their work.

"Please Hope, I could've hurt... I mean I almost... what I did to Cassie..." his voice broke when he spoke his daughters' name. And even though he never finished his sentence Hope knew what he was trying to say.

"That wasn't you Scott." Hope squeezed his shoulder affectionately. "There was nothing you could've done-"

"I know..." He answered, grabbing her hand, "I know, but I need you to do this… for me."

He took the key from her hand and slipped it back into her jacket pocket. She stared at him for a moment.

"Fine..." she surrendered. "Okay..."

He kissed her forehead lightly.

"Thank you…"

"I should go see if I can help..." she said sadly, turning and walking away from him but leaving her hand in his grasp. They held on as long as they could until their hands slipped out of contact.

* * *

It had barely been a minute before she heard Scott's scream.

"Scott!" Hope raced to his side as he flinched, holding back a wave of pain, Janet and Hank right behind her. "Scott, are you-"

"Get back!" He yelled, holding his hand out to stop her from getting closer. "Don't come any closer! I can't- Argh!"

Scott fell to his knees and Hope moved forward again, unable to help herself.

"Stop!" Scott exclaimed! "He's here, I can feel him... just please... don't-"

Scott flinched again turning away from the group. His posture suddenly sagged and when he straightened again Hope knew he was gone. He looked around the room, assessing his location. When his eyes came in contact with Hank's a look of contempt took over his face.

"Hank Pym." Scott spat. "I was hoping you were dead. I guess I didn't do a good enough job the first time. Thank god for second chances."

He went to get up but was stopped abruptly by the handcuff. When he looked down at his hand a wicked grin spread across his face, and a laugh escaped his lips.

"Oh, how pathetic!" Scott jeered. "This is your plan? To just him lock him up? What are you going to do, put him in a cell for the rest of his life? Well… I suppose he'd already be used to that…"

"Shut the hell up Cross…" Hope said through gritted teeth. Scott just smirked and focused his glare on Hank.

"You can't get rid of me, Hank. No matter what it takes, No matter who has to die, I will get my revenge."

"Darren," Hank began calmly. "This fight is between you and me. Leave Scott Lang and his family out of it. He's got nothing to do with"

"He's got everything to do with it!" Scott shouted. "He put me here, he put me through hell. I'm just returning the favour. One way or another Scott Lang will wish he-"

Scott's villainous monologue was cut short when Janet stepped towards Scott, arm outstretched towards his face.

"Janet, what are you doing?" Hank exclaimed.

"I have an idea." She caressed Scott's head and he gasped in pain. Bright, coloured lights could be seen moving from her hand to his head. They stood immobilized as Hank and Hope cautiously crept closer.

"Mom?" Hope asked gently, "What are you doing?"

"The Quantum Entanglement…" Janet said, without breaking her concentration or eye contact with Scott. "I put the antenna in his head I should be able to get it out."

With a final flash of light, Scott's knees buckled and he collapsed into Janet's arms, which slowly lowered him to the ground.

"- come any closer," Scott mumbled in a slurred voice, finishing his previous sentence. He blinked hard a few times, and then looked at Hope. "What happened? D-did the Quantum thingy work?"

Hope sighed in relief, as she sank to the floor next to him and her mother.

"Sure Scott," Hank replied, heaving a sigh of relief as well as he leant against the table. "Sure…"

They sat in a dense silence for a few moments, until Scott finally found the energy to speak.

"You guys don't happen to have any oranges… do you?"

_The End_


End file.
